The mayor of Garowe city openly presents the monthly district revenue and expenditure which is a sense of openness and first ever openness amongst the district authorities across Puntland. Although, the budget is presented in numbers which is hard to the public to understand easily, but it is the beginning of an open government and will influence other districts to do so.
Bareedo Platform appreciates the wider consultation process already employed by the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) which was recently re-established by the president and the parliament in a way instructed by an annex to the constitution.
Open government is a culture of governance that promotes the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation in support of democracy and inclusive growth. Transparent, accessible, and credible data has emerged as a key tool for safeguarding the integrity of Somalia’s democracy against conflict, corruption, and abuses of power. Data empowers civil society, journalists, and citizens to hold power-holders accountable and to expose and address corruption.
In a country where 70% of the population is under 35, entire generations of Somalis have become accustomed to a nation without a government. When the state collapsed in 1991, two decades of lawlessness and conflict followed. The main cause of widespread collapse or affecting the country wholly was that the dictatorship system of which power system is centralised and kept all governmental services in one town which attracted millions of Somali population to vacate their habitual places and populated in Mogadishu only.
Meaningful democracy requires the meaningful participation of youth. Young people have much to offer societies – from innovation to creativity to new thinking. Their participation in democracy promotes active citizenship, strengthens social responsibility and can enhance democratic processes and institutions. Yet young people’s engagement with democracy faces significant challenges – threatening the ongoing political transformation in Somalia.
